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over my shoulder. If I break a mirror, I don't expect seven years' bad luck.
I'm an educated twentieth century man, and I don't believe in any of that
nonsense including the idea that being "in love", as it's called, is the
proper basis for a marriage. All the evidence is that it's not.'
There was a silence while she digested this statement.
'Wh-what do you consider the proper basis for marriage, then?' she asked at
last.
Before he could answer, there was the sound of a car entering the garage
which was connected to the kitchen by a small utility room.
'Susan's back,' he said. 'We shall have to continue this conversation later.'
'But I--' Savanna's protest that she couldn't wait until later died on her lips as
she realised the impossibility of discussing this thunderbolt he had lobbed at
her until they had the certainty of privacy.
Meanwhile she had to have a few minutes alone to pull herself together. If
Susan were to see her now, she would know at once that something was
wrong. Any woman, coming into the kitchen at this moment, would sense
the tension in the atmosphere.
'I I'm going up to make my bed,' she muttered.
She had made it before coming downstairs, but neither Jago nor Susan were
to know that.
On reaching her room she walked across to the window, standing almost on
the spot where, less than an hour ago, Jago had stood while she lay in bed,
still quivering from the ecstasy of his kisses.
Now all that tremulous excitement had been doused by his arbitrary
announcement that love, as she understood it, had no meaning for him. It
was merely superstitious nonsense.
She remembered how, the day he had asked her to marry him, he had said,
As soon as I saw your face, I knew it was the one 1 wanted to look at across
the breakfast table for the next forty years.
And she, foolishly, had chosen to take it as a way of saying he had fallen
headlong in love with her. Yet down in the depths of her being, at the level
between subconscious and conscious thought, she had suspected that he was
too experienced, too worldly, too cynical to share her own outlook on life.
Young men fell in love. Sometimes much older men developed intense
infatuations which made them behave impetuously, and often foolishly. But
not men in their early thirties; especially not rich, attractive men who could
have all the women they wanted.
She should have known that. She had known it, and chosen to ignore it.
The sound of the door opening made her hurriedly compose her face into an
untroubled mask before turning to face her hostess. But Susan would have
knocked before entering, she realised a second or two later, watching Jago
shut the door behind him.
'I came up here to be private. What do you want?' she asked stiffly.
'I don't want to have you working yourself into a state for no good reason,'
was his brisk reply. 'I'd hoped this issue wouldn't arise, but since it has, it
had better be tackled immediately. You won't enjoy your lunch if you're
upset.'
'Are you surprised that I'm upset? What girl would not be, after being told
by her fiance that he doesn't love her?' she enquired, in a voice which shook.
'Ask yourself which you woqld prefer: a bridegroom so besottedly in love
that he thinks you're the perfect woman, and consequently is certain to be
disappointed; or one who's chosen you while still "of sound mind", as they
say?'
Before she could answer, he went on, 'A lasting marriage has to be built on
solid foundations, not romantic illusions, Savanna. I'm prepared to cut my
losses in my business life from time to time, but not in my private life. We'll
marry, and we'll stay married. Divorce is not my style.'
'Your style? What about my style? Have you only seen it from your side?
Hasn't it occurred to you that I might not want a husband who didn't love
me?'
He came closer and laid both his hands heavily on her slim shoulders. 'I like
you. In the long run and marriage is a long run that's the most important
thing. Girls of your age are brainwashed into thinking that being in love is [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]